DS 
740 


UC-NRLF 


SB    SE 


OUR    RELATIONS 


WITH 


LIE  CHINESE  EMPIRE. 


BY 


S.  WELLS  WILLIAMS,  LL.D., 

stary  of  the  American  Legation,  Peking,  China,  author  of  "The  Chinese  Empire 
and  its  Inhabitants,"  "  Tonic  Dictionary  of  the  Canton  Dialect,"  "A  Dictionary 
of  the  Chinese.  Language,  in  the  Mandarin  Dialect,"  et<:.,  etc. 


SAN  FRANCISCO 
1877. 


OUR    RELATIONS 


WITH 


THE  CHIIESE  EMPIRE. 


BY 

S.  WELLS  WILLIAMS,  LL.D., 

i ( 

Late  Secretary  of  the  American  Legation,  Peking,  China,  author  of  "  The  Chinese  Empire 

and  its  Inhabitants,"  "  Tonic  Dictionary  of  the  Canton  Dialect,"  "A  Dictionary 

of  the  Chinese  Language,  in  the  Mandarin  Dialect,"  etc.,  etc. 


SAN  FRANCISCO: 
1877. 


JU 


: :.:  f:  .••••:      :  /.  •'% 

•  • < « •»,  •  •  ••      •  » • 

•  ••••••*    •      •••••• 

•  •  • »  •  *•*    •  ••••   •• 


i 


INTRODUCTION 


In  republishing  the  subjoined  very  able  and  important 
article  from  the  pen  of  S.  WELLS  WILLIAMS,  LL.D,  the  let- 
ter addressed  to  him  by  American  citizens  of  Shanghai, 
China,  is  prefixed,  as  a  suitable  introduction,  showing  that 
no  man  living  is  so  well  qualified  to  speak  on  the  subject  of 
our  relations  with  the  Chinese  Empire.  We  are  much  mis- 
taken if  his  words  will  not  have  manifold  more  influence 
than  all  the  utterances  of  time-serving  politicians. — J.  G.  K. 

S.  WELLS  WILLIAMS,  LL.D. 

SHANGHAI,  CHINA,  November  14th,  1876. 

Dear  Sir : — On  the  eve  of  your  final  departure  from  China,  we  beg  to  offer 
you  the  expression,  not  only  of  our  regret  that  we  can  no  longer  have  you  in 
our  midst,  but  also  of  our  affection  for  yourself,  our  reverence  for  your  per- 
sonal character  and  influence,  and  of  our  high  appreciation  of  your  literary 
attainments  and  large  contributions  from  your  abundant  stores  in  aid  of  the 
work  of  others. 

Your  kindly  cheerfulness  and  patient  industry  and  Christian  consistency 
have  won  our  hearts,  commanded  our  admiration,  and  given  us  an  example 
full  of  instruction  and  encouragement. 

Your  labors  as  Editor,  Author,  and  Lexicographer,  have  laid  us  and  all  stu- 
dents of  Chinese  history  and  the  Chinese  language,  under  great  and  lasting 
obligations  to  your  extensive  and  accurate  knowledge,  and  to  your  painstaking 
and  generous  efforts  in  giving  it  to  others. 

The  high  official  position  which  you  have  so  long  occupied,  as  United  States 
Secretary  of  Legation  and  Interpreter,  and,  nine  several  times,  as  United 
States  Charge  d'Affaires,  has  given  you  many  and  important  opportunities  of 
turning  your  knowledge  and  experience  to  valuable  account  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Chinese,  the  good  of  your  own  country,  and,  above  all,  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  cause  of  Christianity  in  China.  And  we  would  express  our 
grateful  sense  of  the  conscientious  faithfulness  with  which  you  have  dis- 
charged the  duties  of  this  responsible  post. 

But  especially  shall  we  delight  to  remember,  that  in  all  your  relations, 
literary,  diplomatic,  and  social,  towards  natives  and  foreigners  in  China,  for 
the  unprecedented  term  of  forty-three  years,  you  have  faithfully  and  con- 
sistently stood  by  your  colors  as  a  Christian  man  and  missionary. 

We  congratulate  you,  that  you  may  carry  with  you  the  true  "wealth  of  the 
Indies,"  in  the  consciousness  of  a  life  well  spent  in  them,  to  the  glory  of  the 
living  and  trne  God,  and  the  highest  good  of  your  fellow-men. 

Wishing  you  God-speed  in  your  future  work,  and  God's  best  blessings  here 
and  hereafter,  we  bid  you  an  affectionate  farewell ! 

Faithfully  and  truly  yours. 


6  OUB  RELATIONS  WITH  CHINA. 

cans  bad  nothing  to  do  with  the  opium  trade.  In  1839,  be- 
fore hostilities  had  actually  commenced  with  the  British,  in 
consequence  of  his  seizure  of  opium,  Commissioner  Lin 
found  that  the  Americans  had  this  reputation  at  Canton,  and 
he  endeavored  to  enlist  them  on  his  side  in  his  efforts  to  sup- 
press it.  On  one  occasion,  he  sent  a  special  agent  to  Macao, 
to  request  Rev.  Mr.  Bridgman,  the  American  missionary,  to 
come  to  him,  supposing  that  he  might  have  some  influence 
in  this  direction.  An  interview  was  held,  and  although  Lin 
was  disappointed  in  his  plan  of  intermediation,  he  learned 
many  new  ideas  concerning  the  impending  struggle,  and  the 
relative  power  of  his  own  country  and  Great  Britain,  as  well 
as  the  inefficiency  of  his  attempt  to  prevent  it.  It  was  the 
first  effort  on  the  part  of  any  Chinese  official  to  open  politi- 
cal relations  with  the  Americans,  and  was  in  itself  a  tacit 
acknowledgment  of  the  reputation  which  Mr.  Bridgman  had 
obtained  among  the  people  during  his  ten  years'  residence  at 
Canton.  At  that  time,  the  American  trade  was  second  in 
value  to  the  British.  The  Chinese  Government  sincerely 
desired  to  stop  only  the  opium  trade  and  develop  all  other 
branches;  but  the  British  Government,  ruled  as  it  is  by  the 
shortsighted  selfishness  of  trade,  refused  to  cooperate  in  this 
despairing  effort  to  restrain  an  evil  of  which  its  victims  knew 
the  effects  better  than  their  destroyers.  England  then  lost  a 
golden  opportunity  to  elevate  moral  above  mercenary  motives 
in  the  eyes  of  a  heathen  people,  which  she  has  never  recov- 
ered. She  showed  no  desire  to  stay  the  destroying  agency 
so  profitable  to  herself. 

The  proposal  of  the  American  Government  in  1844,  to 
open  political  relations  with  the  Court  of  Peking,  was  mor  . 
favorably  received  by  it  than  a  similar  one  from  any  other 
nation  would  have  been  at  that  moment,  owing  to  this  gene- 
ral opinion  of  its  citizens;  and  the  first  article  of  Mr.  Gush- 
ing's  treaty  of  July,  1844,  indicated  the  hopes  of  such  a 
makeweight  against  the  British.  It  read  as  follows: 

"  There  shall  be  a  perfect,  permanent,  and  universal  peace, 
and  a  sincere  and  cordial  amity  between  the  United  States  of 
America  on  the  one  part,  and  the  Ta  Tsing  Empire  on  the 
other  part,  and  between  their  people  respectively,  without 
exception  of  persons  or  places." 


OUK  KELATIONS  WITH  CHINA. 


The  thirty-third  article  of  this  treaty  disallowed  the  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  from  trading  "in  opium,  or  any 
other  contraband  article  of  merchandise,"  under  penalty  of 
losing  all  countenance  or  protection  from  their  own  Govern- 
ment. The  word  was  not  mentioned  either  in  the  British 
treaty  or  tariff,  though  all  parties  fully  understood  that  the 
trade  was  illegal,  and  the  ships  of  both  these  nations  en- 
gaged in  it. 

The  next  fourteen  years  showed  a  great  increase  of  inter- 
course of  every  kind,  commercial,  religious,  and  political; 
and  the  American  Treaty,  from  its  being  the  most  minute 
and  carefully  arranged,  under  the  skilful  hand  of  Mr.  Gush- 
ing, of  any  one  of  the  four  then  existing,  became,  so  to 
speak,  the  charter-party  of  that  intercourse.  The  American 
Ministers  who  represented  their  country  after  its  ratification, 
were  courteously  received  by  the  deputy  of  the  Emperor  at 
Canton,  who  was  the  Governor-General  of  the  Province,  and 
answers  were  returned  to  the  Letters  of  Credence  delivered 
through  him  for  transmission  to  his  Majesty.  The  peculiar 
notions  of  etiquette  on  such  points  prevailing  among  the 
crowned  heads  of  Europe,  prevented  their  representatives 
sending  in  their  credentials,  since  these  could  only  be  de- 
livered in  person  to  the  Emperor.  The  American  Govern- 
ment deemed  it  suitable  to  its  position  to  communicate  a 
Letter  of  Credence  to  the  proper  officers  appointed  by  the 
Chinese  Government,  as  it  was  intercourse  between  the  Gov- 
ernments which  was  desired,  rather  than  between  their 
chiefs. 

These  points  might  now  be  considered  as  trifling  things, 
but  thirty  years  ago  they  formed  part  of  the  influence  at 
work  in  changing  the  ideas,  and  removing  the  ignorance  of 
the  Chinese  rulers  and  people.  Those  wrong  ideas  were 
rather  more  the  misfortune  than  the  fault  of  both,  but  their 
conceit  hindered  their  learning  salutary  truths.  The  next 
war  between  Great  Britain  and  China  incidentally  grew  out 
of  the  opium  trade  as  the  first  did,  though  it  was  veiled  by  a 
reference  to  an  insult  alleged  to  have  been  given  to  the 
British  flag  by  the  Governor-General  at  Canton,  who  proba- 
bly had  no  such  intention.  The  consequences  were  favorable 
to  permanent  peace,  as  they  placed  all  international  relations 


8  OUE  EELATIONS  WITH   CHINA. 

on  a  more  satisfactory  basis.  The  four  treaties  signed  at 
Tientsin  in  June,  1858,  brought  China  into  the  family  of  na- 
tions— much  against  her  will,  and  smarting  under  a  sense  of 
injury,  indeed,  but  doubtless  for  her  good  and  her  future 
safety.  In  the  new  treaty  made  with  the  United  States  on 
this  occasion  by  Mr.  Heed,  the  first  article  was  enlarged  as 
follows : 

"There  shall  be,  as  there  has  always  been,  peace  and 
friendship  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  the  Ta 
Tsing  Empire,  and  between  their  people  respectively.  They 
shall  not  insult  and  oppress  each  other  for  any  trifling  cause, 
so  as  to  produce  an  estrangement  between  them;  and  if  any 
other  nation  should  act  unjustly  or  oppressively,  the  United 
States  will  exert  their  good  offices,  on  being  informed  of  the 
case,  to  bring  about  an  amicable  arrangement  of  the  ques- 
tion, thus  showing  their  friendly  feelings." 

By  this  article,  the  United  States  have  bound  themselves 
to  treat  the  Chinese,  as  they  ask  them  to  treat  American  citi- 
zens, in  a  way  which  they  have  not  bound  themselves  to  do 
with  any  other  nation.  In  China,  its  spirit  and  letter  have, 
on  the  whole,  been  well  carried  out.  In  1848,  three  men 
were  executed  for  the  murder  of  Eev.  W.  M.  Lowrie,  and  six 
more  banished ;  and  in  1856,  a  man  was  executed  at  Fuhchau 
for  killing  Mr.  Cunningham  in  a  mob.  This  was  by  the 
Chinese  authorities.  On  the  other  hand,  one  David  Williams 
was  sentenced  to  death  at  Shanghai  in  the  United  States  Con- 
sular Court  for  piracy  and  murder  in  Chinese  waters  in  1863, 
and  would  have  been  executed  if  he  had  not  committed  sui- 
cide the  night  before  the  appointed  day.  Another  man, 
named  Thompson,  was  subsequently  tried  and  found  guilty 
of  murdering  a  Chinese,  but  he  escaped  from  prison  two  or 
three  days  before  the  day  set  for  his  execution.  These  in- 
stances have  sufficed  to  show  the  determination  of  the  au- 
thorities of  both  countries  to  vindicate  the  laws  of  their 
lands  in  maintaining  treaty  stipulations.  In  the  retrospect 
of  the  thirty-five  years,  since  the  treaty  of  Nanking,  and  con- 
sidering the  way  in  which  foreign  treaties  were  forced  out  of 
the  Chinese,  and  their  feeling  that  they  seldom  get  redress 
when  they  are  the  plaintiffs,  they  deserve  respect  for  the 
manner  in  which  they  have  observed  them. 


OUK  EELATIONS  WITH  CHINA. 


During  this  period,  the  Chinese  have  been  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  position,  resources,  and  character  of  the 
United  States,  almost  wholly  through  her  missionaries.  The 
official  correspondence  and  interpreting  between  the  Chinese 
and  the  Ministers,  Admirals,  and  Consuls,  who  have  succes- 
sively represented  her,  has  been,  with  slight  exceptions,  done 
by  them  or  their  sons;  and  they  have  themselves  acted  as  the 
nation's  representatives  on  many  occasions.  Not  a  dollar  has 
ever  been  spent  by  the  United  States  to  train  up  a  class  of 
interpreters  who  could  perform  this  necessary  duty,  as  is 
done  by  every  other  country  which  has  extensive  political  re- 
lations with  China;  even  nations  like  Denmark  and  Austria 
deem  it  politic  to  educate  their  own  official  interpreters, 
though  their  trade  is  trifling,  and  their  subjects  number  only 
a  few  scores. 

Two  Americans  have  been  in  the  service  of  the  Chinese 
Government  within  the  past  twenty  years,  whose  deeds  are 
not  likely  to  be  soon  forgotten.  One  of  them  was  General 
Frederick  War.d,  who  formed  the  Ever  Victorious  force.  He 
led  it  against  the  Taiping  rebels  in  several  attacks,  and  was 
mortally  wounded  in  1862  near  Ningpo,  at  the  head  of  his 
men,  whom  he  had  inspirited  with  his  own  courage.  The 
other  has  been  more  widely  known,  but  in  Anson  Burlingame 
the  Chinese  had  an  equally  useful  servant.  In  his  capacity 
as  the  first  American  Minister  who  lived  in  Peking,  he  made 
a  good  impression  upon  the  Chinese  officials;  and  at  that 
time  it  was  exceedingly  desirable  to  remove  the  bizarre  and 
erroneous  ideas  these  men  had  been  taught,  in  their  seclusion 
from  the  world  at  large,  to  believe  respecting  the  manners 
and  policy  of  foreign  nations.  Mr.  Burlingame  and  Sir  Fred- 
erick Bruce  were  personally  well  fitted  to  remove  their  fears, 
and  did  combine  to  strengthen  their  hopes  for  the  gradual 
adoption  of  better  relations.  When,  therefore,  they  ap- 
pointed Mr.  Burlingame,  in  1867,  to  be  their  Envoy  to  all 
the  twelve  Powers  with  whom  they  had  negotiated  treaties, 
it  was  in  the  full  belief  that  he  would  serve  them  faithfully. 
He  had  already  done  them  a  good  service  in  the  matter  of 
the  Lay-Osborne  Flotilla,  and  his  aftercourse  upheld  the  fa- 
vorable opinion  which  had  led  to  his  appointment.  If  he 
hadbeen  spared  to  return  to  Peking  and  confer  with  them, 


10  OUR  RELATIONS  WITH  CHINA. 

it  is  probable  that  bis  mission  would  bave  bad  more  perma- 
nent effects.  As  a  mark  of  their  peculiar  regard  for  these 
two  men,  they  have  both  been  deified  by  the  Emperor,  (the 
latter,  we  hear,  quite  recently,)  and  their  names  enrolled 
among  the  worthies  whose  influence  in  the  unseen  world  will 
benefit  the  Middle  Kingdom.  They  are  the  only  two  for- 
eigners, so  far  as  is  known,  who  have  ever  had  this  distinc- 
tion. 

In  considering  the  political  relations  between  China  and 
the  United  States,  it  is  well  to  refer  to  the  fifth  article  in  the 
treaty  negotiated  at  Washington,  known  as  the  Burlingame 
Treaty,  as  it  is  continually  referred  to  in  this  country  as 
bearing  on  the  immigration  of  the  Chinese.  It  is  supposed 
by  many  that  that  article  stimulated  emigration  to  America, 
as  its  modification  or  abrogation  will  stop  it.  Though  Mr. 
Burlingame  was  invested  with  full  powers,  it  was  not  ex- 
pected that  he  would  negotiate  any  new  treaties,  and  his  as- 
sociate Envoys  were  very  reluctant  to  affix  their  names  to 
this  one  without  express  instructions  from  Peking.  It  is,  as 
a  whole,  rather  an  amplification  of  the  stipulations  and  spirit 
of  the  treaty  of  1858,  and  does  not  grant  any  really  new 
privileges.  The  fifth  article  reads  as  follows : 

' 'The  United  States  of  America  and  the  Emperor  of 
China  cordially  recognize  the  inherent  and  inalienable  right 
of  man  to  change  his  home  and  his  allegiance,  and  also  the 
mutual  advantages  of  the  free  migration  and  immigration  of 
their  citizens  and  subjects  respectively  from  the  one  country 
to  the  other  for  the  purposes  of  curiosity,  trade,  or  as  per- 
manent residents.  The  high  contracting  parties,  therefore, 
join  in  reprobating  any  other  than  an  entirely  voluntary  im- 
migration for  these  purposes.  They  consequently  agree  to 
pass  laws,  making  it  a  penal  offence  for  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  or  a  Chinese  subject,  to  take  Chinese  sub- 
jects, either  to  the  United  States  or  to  any  foreign  country; 
or  for  'a  Chinese  subject  or  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  to 
take  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  China,  or  to  any  other 
foreign  country,  without  their  free  and  voluntary  consent 
respectively." 

This  treaty  was  ratified  by  President  Johnson,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  before  it  was 


OUB  EELATIONS  WITH   CHINA.  11 

sent  out  to  Peking,  and  submitted  to  the  consideration  of 
the  other  contracting  Power.  The  Chinese  Government 
delayed  to  affix  the  Imperial  seal  for  many  mouths,  simply 
because  it  wished  to  see  whether  its  Envoys  would  make  any 
more  treaties  with  other  nations,  for  the  usage  is  that  what- 
ever is  granted  to  one  nation  is  free  to  all. 

It  is  not  likely  that  the  Burlingame  Treaty  has  ever  had 
any  perceptible  effect  on  the  emigration  of  the  Chinese  to 
this  country.  Few,  very  few  of  the  people  know  that  such 
an  article  as  that  now  quoted  exists.  They  do  know  that 
none  of  their  countrymen  go  as  contract  laborers  to  the 
United  States,  and  that  when  a  man  leaves  Hong  Kong 
under  the  American  flag  for  the  Kau  Kam  Shan  or  Old 
Gold  Hills,  there  is  a  certainty  of  his  friends  hearing  from 
him,  and  of  his  return  home  (if  living)  when  he  pleases. 
This  treaty  was  made  about  twenty  years  after  the  emigration 
to  California  had  set  in,  and  myriads  had  gone  out  and  re- 
turned home  in  the  meantime.  When  Mr.  Burlingame  re- 
turned from  San  Francisco  to  Peking  in  1866,  he  reported 
to  the  Chinese  that  a  million  of  laborers  could  find  employ- 
ment on  the  Pacific  Coast.  The  Pacific  Kailroad  had  not 
then  been  completed,  and  the  prospect  to  the  capitalists  en- 
gaged in  that  and  other  public  and  private  works  of  getting 
labor  from  China,  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  could  elsewhere  be 
obtained,  was  very  tempting.  The  Chinese  were  likely  to 
be  well  treated  when  they  could  be  hired  at  half  the  price 
of  Irish  and  German  laborers. 

The  truth  is,  everything  has  been  done  on  our  side  to 
encourage  and  regulate  the  immigration  of  Chinese  into 
this  country.  They  were  useful  at  first,  in  humble  labors, 
when  the  search  for  gold  engrossed  the  attention  of  others; 
and  became  of  real  value  when  the  construction  of  the  great 
Kailroad  depended  on  their  industry.  The  Barlingame  Treaty- 
only  expressed  its  approval  of  what  existed,  and  tbe  Emperor 
of  China  had  no  power  to  prevent  his  subjects  leaving  their 
native  soil,  even  if  that  compact  had  set  itself  against  their 
landing  on  the  shores  of  America.  They  have  been  emigra- 
ting for  centuries,  and  have  settled  themselves  in  all  the 
islands  of  the  Indian  Archipelago  and  Pacific  Ocean,  as  well 
as  the  inviting  countries  nearer  by.  They  go  at  their  own 


12  OUE  RELATIONS  WITH  CHINA. 

risk,  however,  and  the  Son  of  Heaven  used  to  care  very  little 
what  became  of  them,  if  they  were  so  unwise  as  to  leave  a 
civilized  land  for  the  barbarous,  lawless  regions  beyond  its 
pale. 

It  should  be  stated,  too,  that  strictly  speaking,  none  come 
to  this  country  direct  from  China;  from  the  very  first,  they 
have  all  sailed  away  to  San  Francisco  from  British  territory, 
the  ships  have  come  under  British  rules  and  restrictions  in 
relation  to  provisioning  and  numbers,  and  British  officers  at 
Hong  Kong  have  given  clearances  to  ships  with  Chinese 
going  to  San  Francisco,  just  as  British  officers  have  given 
them  to  ships  with  Irish  going  from  Queenstown.  The  Bur- 
lingarne  Treaty  would  not  have  anyhow  prevented  Chinese 
going  to  Hong  Kong,  and  the  Emperor  of  China  cannot  stop 
his  subjects  going  abroad.  The  old  and  common  ideas  re- 
specting the  danger  to  a  man  who  did  so  have  been  exag- 
gerated, for  no  one  was  punished  who  returned  home;  on 
the  contrary,  in  olden  time  he  was  regarded  with  curious 
interest  if  he  had  gone  at  first  from  places  far  in  the  interior. 
Probably  not  five  per  cent,  ever  did  return;  and  far  the 
greater  part  of  those  who  have  gone  to  Siam,  India,  and  the 
Archipelago,  and  elsewhere,  went  of  their  own  accord,  and 
on  the  same  conditions  that  they  have  gone  to  California  and 
Australia,  viz.,  by  mortgaging  their  lalor  to  pay  for  their 
passage. 

The  above  is  one  side  of  the  Chinese  question.  That  of 
treaties,  of  capital  and  labor,  and  of  treatment  of  our  citizens 
in  China,  where  we  have  compelled  their  rulers  to  let  us  live 
under  our  own  laws  within  their  borders,  is  the  other.  This 
right  of  ex-territorial  jurisdiction  is  a  sore  spot  in  the  minds 
of  those  rulers,  and  they  usually  oppose  any  demands  for 
further  privileges  on  the  part  of  American  representatives, 
and  even  of  all  foreign  nations,  by  comparing  the  legal  posi- 
tion of  the  two  peoples  in  each  other's  territories. 

Comparing  the  civilization  of  one  side  with  the  other  in 
this  singular  condition  of  things,  what  do  we  see  ?  The  first 
has  been  nurtured  under  the  highest  standards  of  moral 
principles,  and  claims  to  be  guided  by  elevated  sentiments 
and  an  intelligent  public  opinion;  and  yet  all  this  has  failed 
to  secure  the  commonest  rights  of  humanity  to  the  second, 


OUK  RELATIONS  WITH   CHINA.  13 

who  are  weak,  ignorant,  poor,  and  unprotected.  When  the 
Chinese  first  arrived  in  California  after  the  gold  was  dis- 
covered, they  were  not  allowed  to  testify  in  the  courts;  and 
the  consequences  were  such  as  were  well  known  in  the  slave 
States,  where  the  evidence  of  negroes  was  ruled  out.  Mur- 
ders, robberies,  oppressions,  and  assaults  upon  them  became 
so  ^common,  and  usually  unpunishable  for  want  of  evidence, 
that  the  legislators  of  California,  for  their  own  protection, 
were  induced  to  pass  an  act  allowing  the  Chinese  to  testify. 
Discriminating  laws  were  passed  against  them,  and  their 
labor  was  taxed  without  securing  to  them  the  protection  and 
privileges  they  paid  for.  The  fact  that  the  treaties  were 
made  with  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  seems  to 
have  had  no  weight  with  the  rulers  of  the  States  where  the 
Chinese  suffered  these  things.  They  fell  between  two  stools. 
They  had  neither  opportunity  to  know  their  treaty  rights, 
money  to  go  into  the  proper  courts,  advocates  to  plead  for 
them,  or  the  least  consular  protection  or  cognizance  from 
their  own  home  Government  in  Peking.  The  high  officers 
there  were  urged  to  appoint  suitable  men  to  go  to  San  Fran- 
cisco as  Chinese  consuls,  but  while  they  acknowledged  its 
importance,  they  could  not,  rather  than  would  not,  see  their 
way  clear  to  do  so. 

To  say  that  the  great  majority  of  Chinese  now  in  our  bor- 
ders are  fairly  treated,  and  have  been  paid  their  wages,  and 
that  the  cases  of  outrage  and  unredressed  wrongs  form  the 
vast  exception,  is  simply  to  evade  the  responsibility  which 
rests  on  a  Government  to  secure  protection  to  every  indi- 
vidual within  its  jurisdiction.  The  Government  of  the  United 
States  properly  requires  and  expects  that  every  American 
citizen  visiting  or  residing  in  China,  shall  be  treated  justly 
by  the  Chinese  Government,  and  its  consuls  dwelling  at  the 
ports  would  soon  be  recalled  if  they  failed  to  do  their  utmost 
to  redress  wrongs  suffered  in  life,  limb,  or  property  by  the 
poorest  citizen.  The  Imperial  Government  has  already  paid 
out  about  $800,000  to  indemnify  the  losses  of  our  citizens 
within  its  territory.  Some  of  these  losses  were  incurred  by 
the  direct  act  of  British  forces  setting  fire  to  the  houses  of 
Americans,  and  in  no  case,  almost,  were  they  caused  by 
direct  attacks  on  them  as  such.  Mission  chapels  have  been 


14  OUE  RELATIONS  WITH   CHINA. 

destroyed,  or  pillaged  by  mobs  at  Tientsin,  Shanghai,  Fuh- 
chau,  and  Canton,  and  indemnity  made  in  every  case. 
^  How  mortifying  is  the  record  of  robberies,  murders,  arsons, 
and  assaults,  committed  on  peaceable  Chinese  living  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  not  one  of  whom  had  any  power  to  plead  their 
case,  and  most  of  whom  probably  suffered  in  silence!  Do 
we  excuse  ourselves  from  fulfilling  treaty  obligations,  the 
most  solemn  obligations  a  nation  can  impose  on  itself,  and 
whose  infraction  always  ought  to  involve  loss  of  character 
and  moral  power,  because  the  Chinese  Government  is  a 
pagan  Government,  and  weak,  too,  as  well?  Can  this  nation 
look  quietly  on  while  Chinese  are  murdered,  and  their  houses 
burned  over  their  heads,  in  California,  and  no  one  is  exe- 
cuted for  such  murders,  or  mulcted  for  such  arsons;  and 
then  excuse  itself  for  such  a  breach  of  faith  because  these 
acts  were  committed  in  that  State,  and  no  Chinese  consul  is 
there  to  plead  officially  for  redress?  It  is  not  implied  by 
this  that  no  murderer  has  ever  been  executed  for  taking 
their  lives,  or  robber  punished  for  his  crimes,  but  every  one 
knows  that  such  criminals  do  escape  punishment,  and  that 
the  Chinese  in  that  State  feel  their  insecurity  and  weakness. 
Wo  be  to  them  if  they  should  attempt  to  redress  their  own 
wrongs ! 

This  point  is  quite  a  different  question  from  the  speculative 
ones,  Whether  the  immigration  of  the  Chinese  should  be 
allowed?  Whether  their  labor  will  not  destroy  our  own? 
Whether  we  can  absorb  and  assimilate  such  a  mass  of  igno- 
rant, immoral,  and  degraded  heathens?  The  point  brought 
up  in  these  remarks,  refers  to  the  treaty  obligations  the 
American  people  has  voluntarily  taken  upon  itself  in  refer- 
ence to  the  Chinese.  We  may  say  that  we  are  suffering 
these  evils  from  that  people,  and  are  determined  to  prevent 
any  more  of  them  coming.  If  the  balance  of  evils  suffered 
by  the  parties  to  these  treaties  be  drawn,  the  Chinese  would 
be  found  to  have  had  by  far  the  worst  of  them.  It  is  better 
far  to  show  that  the  treaties  have  brought  more  good  results 
in  their  train  to  both  than  evil,  and  that  it  is  for  our  own 
highest  welfare  to  treat  those  whom  we  have  done  so  much 
to  induce  to  come  here,  with  at  least  as  much  justice  as 
we  demand  of  them.  Some  fear  that  this  country  will  be 


OUR  RELATIONS  WITH  CHINA.  15 

swamped  altogether  by  this  flood  of  aliens,  but  the  125,000 
or  so  of  Chinese  now  in  this  land,  with  few  exceptions,  all 
came  from  a  small  portion,  two  prefectures,  of  Kwangtung 
Province.  There  is  no  probability  of  other  parts  of  the'1 
Empire  joining  in  this  emigration,  for  several  reasons,  one 
of  which  is  the  great  differences  in  their  dialects.  The  labor 
question,  also,  is  quite  irrelevant  to  the  one  before  us.  The 
laws  of  supply  and  demand,  wages  and  work,  food  and 
machinery,  are  among  the  most  vital  and  difficult  of  solution 
among  mankind,  and  will  doubtless  often  come  into  collision 
until  their  complicated  interests  are  better  understood.  But 
to  allow  one  ignorant  laborer  to  maltreat  another  with  im- 
punity, because  the  former  is  stronger,  has  a  vote,  and  will 
not  try  to  understand  why  he  suffers  just  as  myriads  of 
other  laborers  do,  who  are  not  troubled  with  the  heathen 
Chinee,  is  to  sap  and  weaken  all  law  and  order.  If  they  are 
an  inferior  race,  as  we  roundly  assert,  there  is  no  fear  of 
their  ever  interfering  with  our  supremacy  here  in  any  depart- 
ment, and  policy  alone  would  counsel  us  to  treat  them  fairly; 
and  on  the  other  hand,  if  they  can  rise,  in  their  own  land, 
under  the  same  democratic  institutions  and  Christian  train- 
ing to  be  our  equals,  we  cannot,  as  a  nation  living  next  to 
them  just  across  the  Pacific,  well  afford  to  treat  them  as 
enemies. 

The  Chinese  were  treated  reasonably  well  in  California  as 
long  as  our  citizens  could  make  money  out  of  their  cheap 
labor,  and  when  the  hopes  of  getting  a  large  portion  of  the 
China  and  East  India  trade  were  encouraging.  They  had 
not  carefully  studied  the  thrifty  and  economical  habits  of 
the  laborers  whom  they  invited  in  to  compete  with  native 
workmen,  nor  how  soon  the  real  power  of  those  habits, 
which  have  given  the  Chinese  their  superiority  in  Asia, 
would  be  seen  here.  No  measures  were  taken  by  the  rulers 
of  California  or  San  Francisco  to  compel  the  immigrants  to 
live  with  some  regard  to  their  own  health  and  the  public 
comfort,  but  when  they  became  "nuisances"  to  others  from 
their  overcrowding,  then  the  whole  blame  was  put  upon 
them,  whereas  the  chief  fault  lay  with  the  municipality  for 
not  teaching  them  how  to  live  properly.  Further,  a  wise 
policy  would  have  led  the  city  and  State  authorities  to  edu- 


16  OUE  RELATIONS  WITH   CHINA. 

cate  suitable  men  in  the  Chinese  language,  who  could  have 
acted  as  their  interpreters  and  translators,  and  thus  main- 
tained an  intelligent  intercourse  with  these  people.  This 
reasonable  course  would  have  shown  them  that  their  con- 
dition was  understood,  a  way  prepared  for  them  to  improve, 
and  proper  persons  appointed  to  help  them  in  all  suitable 
ways.  Nothing  of  the  kind  has  ever  been  done,  though 
measures  are  taken  in  several  other  States  to  aid  Germans, 
Norwegians,  etc.,  in  understanding  our  laws  in  their  own 
tongue,  so  that  no  mistakes  may  be  made.  Yet  no  class 
needed  it  so  much  as  the  Chinese,  and  none  would  have 
been  more  likely  to  have  accepted  the  laws  when  they  under- 
stood them. 

One  cannot  but  feel  indignant  and  mortified  at  the  con- 
trast between  the  way  in  which  the  Chinese  have  treated  us 
in  their  country  into  which  we  have  forced  ourselves,  and 
the  way  we  have  treated  them  in  this  country,  into  which 
we  have  invited  them.  We  have  too  often  used  them  as  if 
they  had  no  rights  which  we  were  bound  to  respect,  and 
refused  that  protection  as  men  and  laborers  which  the  ex- 
isting treaties  guaranteed  to  them.  Is  it  necessary,  in  order 
that  we  should  carry  out  our  own  treaty  obligations,  that  we 
wait  for  a  Chinese  Minister  at  Washington  to  officially  in- 
form the  Secretary  of  State  how  they  have  been  violated;  or 
for  a  Chinese  Consul  at  San  Francisco  to  complain  to  its 
Mayor  that  his  countrymen  are  stoned  and  robbed,  and  set 
upon,  and  no  one  punished,  no  one  arrested  for  such  deeds  ? 
Is  not  our  Christian  civilization  strong  enough  to  do  right 
by  them  ?  Have  we  no  remedy  when  we  make  mischief  by 
a  law,  and  then  excuse  ourselves  for  wrongdoing  under  the 
plea  of  law? 


14  DAY  USE 

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DEC  2  7 '63 -11  AM 


LD  21A-50m-ll,'62 
(D3279slO)476B 


PAMPHLET  BINDER 

Syracuse,  N.   Y. 
Stockton,  Calif. 


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